Sand urn



April 15, 1952 L. H. FRANKLIN SAND URN Filed April 23. 1949 IHI u ll h 4 m. w m I 0 u I I ,1 I w.

Patented Apr. 15, 1952 SAND URN Leon H. Franklin, Chicago, 111., assignor to Cecile Franklin, Chicago, 111.

Application April 23, 1949, Serial N0. 89,229

2 Claims. (Cl. 209-283) This invention relates to improvements in sand urns, and more particularly to means for readily cleaning the bowl in the urns.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a sand urn having means whereby the refuse,

such as cigarette butts and the like thrown into the bowl may be readily removed therefrom without the hand contacting same.

Another objectof this invention is to provide a sand urnhaving means for readily sifting the sand from the bowl into the body of the urn and leaving only the refuse such as cigarette, cigar butts and other refuse in the bowl to permit same to be dumped therefrom without the hand contacting any of the said butts or refuse.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bowl for a sand urn with a ledge which will cause the lighted cigarette or cigar placed on the ledge to fall into the bowl rather than on the floor.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sanitary means for cleaning sand urns in a relatively short period of time.

Another object of this invention is to provide a sand urn which eliminates the necessity of scraping the bowl or wiping and polishing by hand, as is the common practice at the present time.

Another object is to provide a bowl which may be used with "any standard sand urn on the market.

"The present method of cleaning the bowls of sand urns is to put the hand into the sand in the bowl and pick out and remove piece by piece all of the cigar, cigarette butts and other refuse in the bowl of the urn, or to manually push a screen into the sand in the bowl and sift the White sand which is used. These are very unsanitary and time consuming methods. Clean sand is then picked up from the body of the urn and dumped back into the top bowl. With my inventionthis is all eliminated as I provide a bowl which fits over the top of the urn body and which has means for sifting the sand therefrom into the bodyof the urn and leaving Within said bowl the remaining cigarette, cigar butts and other refuse which can then be readily emptied therefrom by merely lifting the bowl from the body of the um and dumping same into a refuse container usually provided [or that purpose. In this way none of the butts or refuse is touched and the bowl is automatically cleaned, leaving it free of any sand or other refuse so that it again maybe filled with clean said. The advantages of such a construction are readily apparent both 2 from a sanitary and from a time saving standpoint.

With my invention the maximum amount of white sand which is normally used in said urns and which is costly is reclaimed.

Furthermore, in the normal use of sand urns, the moisture from expectorations, such as tobacco juices and the like will cause the sand to. harden in small lumps, and particles will stick to the walls and bottom of the conventional bowls and harden, requiring time and substantial effort in scraping it from the bowl and polishing it by hand. With my invention this is eliminated as the blades when operated will scrape and clean such particles from the surfaces of the bowl without any effort and in a minimum of time.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view, partly in cross section showing my invention, and showing the bowl positioned on the top of the'body of the urn.

Fig. 2 is a partial top plan view of the device showing the bowl openings in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a partial top plan view with the agitating member or blades moved to their furthermost right hand position and showing the bowl openings in open position.

Fig. 4 is across sectional view taken on lines 4-4 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on lines 55 of Fig. 4.

In Fig. l, the numeral I0 indicates the conventional urn, only the top part of which is shown. The urnis filled with sand ll, up to a level below the bottom of the bowl so that the bowl may be placed thereon without engaging or resting on the sand. The bowl i2 is shaped to provide a dished portion M and an inclined or angular shoulder it which terminates in a downward flange 18. The bottom 20 of the bowl has a plurality of oircumferentially spaced openings 22 arranged in a plurality of rows which register when aligned with other openings in a rotatable disc or plate, more presently to be described. On the wall of the bowl closely adjacent the shoulder it, I provide a slot 24 extending approximately one quarter of the circumference of the bowl. An annular plate or disc 26 is rotatably supported on the underside of the bowl, as will be presently described.

Welded or otherwise suitably secured as at '21 to the rotatable plate 26 is a lever 28 which is curved complementally to the side wall of the bowl but not in engagement therewith and which is L-shaped at its upper end to pass through the slot 24 to terminate in a handle portion 30, as shown in Fig. l. The handle portion extends or terminates slightly short of the shoulder of the bowl to be readily engaged by the hand. Normally the handle portion is slightly covered with the sand in the bowl so as not to be very conspicuous, however it can be readily grasped to be engaged by the hand to operate this device. The lever 28 has a vertical slot 32 within which is received one of the ends of the blade member, to be presently described.

To operate within said bowl, I provide a plurality of blade or agitating members, generally indicated at 34 which form a cross shape in top plan. The blades are preferably formed of two.

sections 38 and 38. Each section has a pair of blade members positioned at right angles to each other and an intermediate angular portion 36a and 38a respectively. Each portion is shaped to provide a semi-circle 36b and 38b respectively. The sections 38 and 38 are secured in a slotted bushing 40 with the intermediate portions 36a and 38a resting adjacent each other and Within the slot 42 in the bushing. The semi-circular portions 36band 38b define an annular opening for accommodating the bolt 44 which extends through the bushing and holds the parts together. A nut 46 is secured to the threaded end of the bolt on the underside of the rotatable plate. Suitable Washers, as shown, are positioned between a the moving parts. The blade members 3 3 are curved upwardly, complementally to the inside wall of the bowl and are positioned so that they just clear the side walls of the bowl. One of the blades is secured within the slot 32 of the lever 28 to move simultaneously therewith and thereby rotate the blades. The bottom of the blades are spaced slightly upwardly of the bottom of the bowl by means of washers.

The disc 26 has a plurality of circumferentially spaced openings 29 of the size of the openings 22 in the bottom of the bowl, which openings are in staggered relation to the bowl openings. The openings are such'that when the rotatable plate 26 is in certain positions the openings 29 are in alignment with the openings 22 and will permit sand or other very fine matter to pass from the bottom of the bowl through the rotatable disc 26 and into the body of the sand urn I0. In other positions the "surfaces of the disc 25 are under the bowl openings 22 or out of registry with the openings 22, thereby closing the bowl openings 22 and preventing sand from passing therethrough. This is the normal position of the parts.

With the lever 28 positioned at the forward end of the slot 24, like that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the openings 29 in the plate are out of registry with the openings 22 in the bottom of the bowl, and consequently the sand in the bowl will be trapped therein and will be retained in the bowl. This is the normal position of use. The sand in the bowl (not shown) will cover and hide the blades 35 and the sand will extend approximately to the level of the top of the handle 39 to partially hide same.

When refuse, such as cigarette or cigar butts and the like are thrown into the bowl, same will rest in the sand above the blades. When it is desired to clean the bowl it is not necessary to remove the butts or other particles by hand but the handle 3c is grasped and moved to the right to the end of the slot 24 and then back again.

This may be repeated two or three times. When moved forward the lever 28 simultaneously rotates the disc 26 and the blades 34 therewith. In the forward movement of the lever 28, the openings 29 in the rotatable plate register with the openings 22 in the bottom of the bowl several times and thus permit the sand in the bowl to pass therethrough and into the-main body of the urn. During this operation the blades will more or less agitate the sand and cause the sand to flow more freely through the openings when same are registered. When the lever is in its furthermost right hand position at the end of the slot, such as shown in Fig. 3, the openings 22 and 29 are in perfect registry. Normally after the lever 28 is moved back and forth several times the complete length of the slot, the sand in the bowl will have been sifted from the bowl into the body of the urn, and all that will remain in the bowl will be the refuse, such as cigarette and cigar butts and the like, which is too large to pass through the said openings Simultaneously the blades will cause any sand particles adhering to the bowl surface to be scraped and dislodged therefrom, and the bowl surface will be thereby cleaned. The bowl may then be readily lifted from the top of the urn and the contents remaining may then be dumped into a disposal container. Thus it will be seen that I have provided a very sanitary method of cleaning the bowl and sifting the sand through the bowl to expose the cigarette butts and the like and removing same without actually touching same, as is now necessary in the conventional sand urns. After the bowl has been emptied of refuse, the lever 28 is positioned at the extreme left or forward end of the slot which closes the bowl openings and the bowl may be filled with sand from the urn. After sufiicient sand has been placed in the bowl, the bowl may thenbe put on the urn container. In cleaning, the procedure above referred to is repeated.

It will be seen that the shoulder N5 of the bowl is at an approximate 20 to 25 degree angle, thus any burning cigarettes or cigars which may be placed thereon will tend to fall into the bowl rather than on the floor.

While I have shown the blade engaging the slot 32 in the lever 28 to be moved thereby, it will be readily apparent that this connection may be eliminated and that by providing a tight fit or a positive locking connection between the bushing 4!! and the disc 26, the disc when rotated by the lever 28 will through the bushing 40 simultaneously rotate the blades therewith.

It will be understood that various changes'and modifications may be made from the foregoing without departing from the spirit and, scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sifter adapted for use with a sand urn comprising a bowl having an annular shoulder adapted to rest on the top of a sand urn, said bowl having a plurality of perforations in the bottom thereof, a plurality of blade members being shaped to conform to the inner surface of said bowl to wipe said inner surface when rotated, a plate arranged adjacent the underside of said bowl and in contact therewith and adapted for simultaneous rotation with said blade members, said plate having a plurality of perforations arranged substantially in the same pattern as the perforations in the bottom of the bowl, means for simultaneously rotating said blades and said plate to move the perforations of said plate into and out of registration with corresponding perforations of said bowl.

2. A sifter adapted for use with a sand urn comprising a bowl having an annular shoulder adapted to rest on the top of a sand urn, said bowl having a plurality of perforations in the bottom thereof, a plurality of blade members supported for rotation within said bowl, said blade members being adapted to conform to the inner surface of said bowl to wipe said inner surface when rotated, a plate arranged adjacent the underside of said bowl and in contact therewith and adapted for simultaneous rotation with said blade members, said plate having a plurality of perforations arranged substantially in the same pattern as the perforations in the bottom of the bowl, and a. member having a handle portion and associated with said blades and said plate for rotating the same simultaneously to move the perforations of the plate into and out of registration with corresponding perforations of said bowl.

LEON H. FRANKLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 63,953 Smith Apr. 16, 1867 337,550 Beneke Mar. 9, 1886 686,669 Cope Nov. 12, 1901 879,440 Carothers Feb. 18, 1908 1,212,585 Toda Jan. 16, 1917 1,468,454 Bose Sept. 18, 1923 1,829,844 Altmayer Nov. 3, 1931 2,479,613 Gomez Aug. 23. 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 1,498 Germany Dec. 21, 187'? 

